


Arcativist

by Deanpala



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: A Leitner makes Jon think he’s a person, AU of an AU, Cat Jon, Gen, based off of scritches for the archivist, really there’s not much else to say
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deanpala/pseuds/Deanpala
Summary: Based off the bit in scritches for the archivist where Jon wonders if perhaps the Lietner didn’t make everyone see as a cat but that he was a cat who ran afoul of a Leitner. That’s the plot. Jon’s a cat that thought he was a human.
Comments: 53
Kudos: 200
Collections: Identity Crisis





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Scritches for the Archivist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282902) by [junal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junal/pseuds/junal). 



The cuddles were nice, Jon thought. Even if the rest of the situation was hell, at least the cuddles were nice. 

That didn’t mean he was going to give up on trying to make everyone see he was human again though, so he sneaks into Artifact storage while everyone’s busy with work and finds the Leitner that did this to him. They might not know what had happened to him, and he might not have had a way to tell them, but they were smart, they knew what Leitners did and this one specifically had “cat” in the title. He hoped it was enough to get them to notice.

——————

When Martin finds what is clearly a Leitner on his desk, he understandably freaks out and tries to get it back to Artifact storage, but Jon won’t go ignored any longer. He knows that Martin can’t understand him, but he refuses to stop telling him to look into ways to reverse this, refuses to stop telling him that he’s a human, not a cat, and so he holds onto the book tightly for as long as he can until Martin physically pries him from it and worriedly looks him over, cooing at him reassuringly the entire time.

Tim, Sasha, and Martin decide to look for statements pertaining to the Lietner just in case it might have had a negative effect on their cat.

They ran out of time for work before they could get past actually finding where the statements might be, but when Jon falls asleep in Tims arms that night, it’s thinking that this might be the last time he has to share a bed with one of his coworkers.

——————-

When everyone finishes their statements the next day, Sasha drags them aside and whispers a game plan to them. This does not bother Jon (it will later be appreciated) as he figures that of course one would need to plan out what to say to their coworker they’d been treating as a cat, it was a rather awkward situation.

They kneel down by him, and for once no one reaches out to pet him, and his hopes soar.

“Ok Jon,” Sasha says, “we want to test a theory. Meow once for no and twice for yes. Can you understand us?”

Jon could cry with joy in this moment.

“Yes! Yes.”

It feels awkward repeating the same word twice without anything else but it’s overshadowed by the fact that they can finally UNDERSTAND HIM! They can finally fix this, they just have to figure out how!

He misses the distressed look they give each other.

Martin speaks next.

“Did you- were- do you consider yourself a person?”

“Yes yes.” 

They all flinch a bit at this answer, and Jon is confused.

“What? What is it? I can understand how the situation could be upsetting, I mean I’m living it, but now that you won’t stop me if I try to get into artifact storage it won’t be a problem for long so there’s no real reason to worry- I’m sorry, I’m rambling I just- it’s been a long few weeks, and I don’t like the prospect of anything else going wrong.”

Tim takes a deep steadying breath.

“I don’t know how to break this to you little buddy, but you’re not human.”

“What? No of course I am, you JUST read the statements, I can clearly understand you, of course I’m human what more proof do you-“

“It’s okay, let me just- let me explain. We found the statements for the Lietner and it- all of them reference someone getting confused and thinking they’re an animal. I don’t think it’s ever happened to- to a cat, before now, but well.... all signs point to yes ya know? I’m sorry.”

Jon’s hands clutch at his hair and he starts panicking.

“Nononononono I’m a human I’m- I’d KNOW if I was a cat I’m-“

——————-

They hadn’t been expecting a good reaction, but when Jon starts yowling and flailing, it breaks their hearts.

Martin vaguely hears Sasha say something about Jon hurting himself and he reaches out and scoops him up to make sure this doesn’t happen.

Jon flails more at being moved, but Martin doesn’t let him go, just runs a calming hand down Jon’s side (it’s not petting, it’s a calming method he’d seen used before, though he can’t deny he is very tempted to give pets and kisses right now, but he can only see that making everything worse) and muttering calming words.

“It’s alright, you’re okay baby, we still love you. We know better now and can treat you better yeah? Being a fluff ball isn’t so bad?”

It takes about five minutes of this for Jon to be anywhere in the realm of calming down, and when he does he goes boneless and radiates utter despair.

“Jon?” Tim asks “you good buddy?”

Jon raises his head just enough to give Tim a dead eyed look and let out a long meow before burying his face into his paws and Martins arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Martin allows himself to sit there on the floor for awhile, just holding Jon in his despair.

“Jon? My- my legs are falling asleep so I’m just going to put you on your chair okay?”

Jon looks up at him and wriggles a bit.

“I can get over there myself Martin.” 

“Be careful Jon, I almost dropped you.”

Jon sighs “that was rather point.” He says, but he doesn’t try to push himself away again.

—————-

The second that Jon is deposited on the chair, he jumps off and makes a beeline for Martins desk.

“I wonder how he sees it” Tim says. “I mean, he’s clearly on the desk, does he just think he’s standing by it? He had to jump up there to see the papers, how does that work?”

Jon glares at him and meows.

“Too soon?”

“Yeah probably.” Sasha answers.

Martin walks over to his desk and leans over Jon a bit.

“What’re you looking at- oh. The statements. Of course, that makes sense you’d want to read them yourself.”

Jon gives him a heartbroken look and flops over on the desk.

It’s devastating to watch, but it’s also all Martin can do to not laugh and pet him.

He does put a hand on his shoulder though and kneels down a bit to be more eye level.

“I’m sorry, it seems... tough. We can try to figure out how to undo it so you don’t- well I don’t know how cats normally think but I don’t think you’d have to deal with stress from this after? If you want.”

Jon looks up and meows at him.

“I’m sorry I don’t know what that means.” 

Jon shakes his head. Whether he’s ever been human or not, he can think like one now and he’s not giving it up. 

The idea of losing that is terrifying.

—————

The rest of the day in the Archives is tense. Jon can tell that the assistants don’t really know how to react to him now, trying to awkwardly settle on involving him while not pointing out the fact that they can’t understand a word he says.

He buried himself under the blanket on the armchair not wanting to deal with the rest of the day, and is awoken by the familiar sensation of hands wrapping around him and lifting him up.

He squirms as much as he can until Martin drops him and Jon gives him a bewildered look.

“What the hell was that?!?”

Martin flinches back a bit at the reaction, and gets down near Jon, speaking in a gentle voice that Jon is growing to hate.

“I- I’m sorry I should have told you I was going to do that but well- i didn’t want to wake you, and it’s time to go home Jon.”

“You don’t have to treat me like I’m fragile.” He mutters then more clearly “well I don’t see why you going home has any effect on me, you already know I at least think like a person, so I can hardly imagine you would want to share a bed with me now.”

Martin just furrows his brow, clearly confused about what Jon’s trying to communicate but not wanting to admit it.

Jon let’s put a sigh, and settles for hand gestures, pointing to himself then the the Archives.

“I. Stay. Here. Understand? I don’t want to keep imposing on your privacy or the other way around, and I don’t want to be toted around like a pet.”

Martin seemed to understand his meaning better this time and gave Jon a pitying smile.

“I’m sorry Jon, but we really can’t just leave you on your own, what if someone finds you and turns you into the pound? No one who adopts you would know about your- mental state, and you don’t have a tag for them to contact us. Besides, it gets cold here at night, it’s just not safe.”

Tim pops his head in.

“What’s going on?”

“He wants to stay in the Archives.”

“I see.... he does remember that the last time he was here alone he ran into a Lietner yeah?”

Jon feels rather offended at this. 

“Yes of course I remember Tim, it’d be rather hard to forget especially considering my current situation. I’d just rather not make things as awkward at your homes as it has been here all day, and sharing a bed does not seem likely to help that. The Archives has a cot, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to upset you or anything. Look, maybe after awhile when we all get more situated with what’s going on, you can stay wherever you like, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be left alone right now. I’d be willing to take you though if you’d prefer, and I’m sure Sasha wouldn’t mind either. This way you get at least a little choice in where you go, sound good?”

Jon sags a little. He supposes he’s out numbered and out powered, so he might as well submit to it, and he sits down to allow Martin to come closer.

This time when the hands grab him, he doesn’t move.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im crying this was twice as well written and twice as long before and then. And THEN. I accidentally deleted it and couldn’t get back in the rhythm when I rewrote it so you get this 😭

As soon as Jon is put on the bed, he shoots up and runs into the living room.

Martin curiously follows Jon, and finds him buried under a throw on the couch.

“What’re you doing? It’s time for bed.”

He meows at him and snuggles further into the couch.

“You- Jon you really don’t have to worry about the whole- the whole bed sharing thing, it’s fine. I don’t mind.”

He refuses to respond except to shake.

“What are you- you’re shivering! Come here, we’ll get you sorted out-“

When he goes to pick up Jon he only gets batted and hissed at for his efforts.

“I- you are being ridiculous right now! Look, I won’t snuggle you or anything, unless you want in which case it’s fine- but you know how cold it gets in here, fur or no.”

A long second of silence passes, and then Jon crawls out from the throw and closer to Martin who quickly scoops him up.

“See, that wasn’t so hard was it?”

Jon scowls at him and meows plaintively.

“Right sorry, shutting up.”

———————

Jon to no ones surprise, finds himself waking up on top of Martin despite definitely being against the idea.

It’s not that it isn’t nice, because it is, it’s so nice but. Well. He feels like he has to double down on his boundaries, like it’ll prove he’s human somehow despite knowing he isn’t.

He tries to push himself off of Martins chest, but the movement only makes Martin stir a little and rest his hands on Jon.

Jon stops moving, not wanting to make it worse.

And if he falls back asleep in less than a minute, it’s only to be expected. Martin is quite warm.

———————

When Jon wakes up again, it’s to the feeling of being pet.

He doesn’t move as it’s rather quite enjoyable and well. One of the things this all has taught him about Martin is that he’s a slow riser, and without Jon interference he can take over an hour to truly come to.

Martin catches sight of the fact Jon’s awake, makes a soft noise of content, and leans over to gently kiss his head.

Jon promptly yelps and falls off the bed, which seems to wake Martin up pretty quickly.

“I- oh my God Jon I’m SO so sorry I wasn’t even thinking I’m a disaster I am-“

“It’s fine Martin, well, it’s not FINE, but I understand and I’m not cross with you about it.”

“Yeah, I know, apologizing doesn’t actually fix anything I- I understand if you want to avoid me for awhile it’s perfectly-“

This would be so much easier if Martin could understand him Jon thinks as he puts a hand (paw?) over Martins mouth to stop his rambling.

“I said it’s fine.”

He wracks his brain for a moment trying to think of how a cat would convey this as clearly human means of communication aren’t going to work, and settles on blinking very slowly at Martin and brushing his head against his hand.

It’s undignified, but it does its job, and most the tension seems to leave Martin at the gesture.

He still pulls away though when said hand tries to bury itself in his hair. No need to encourage him.

—————————

“I- no, no tea!”

Breakfast used to be simpler before this Martin thinks as Jon yowls at him.

“No, I don’t care how human you feel, you still have a cat body and I’m not letting you make yourself sick!”

Jon gives him a scowl, and it low key kind of makes Martin want to cry. 

“No.” Martin repeats, trying and mostly failing to sound stern.

The yowling increases at this and Jon tries to subtly reach a paw toward Martins cup, but as he is not subtle to start with and, as was mentioned, yowling WHILE DOING THIS, was stopped from his tea crimes by Martin grabbing the tea off the counter and holding it far above Jon’s head.

“Will you stop- okay fine, fine. You don’t get any tea for now- no, stop it, don’t give me that look there’s more- I won’t give you any tea now, but I’ll look into some cat safe alternatives and substitutes today so you can have some later, okay?”

Jon gives him a pout which Martin isn’t a fan of, but at least he’s stop shouting.

“And-“ he adds for good measure “- I’ll look into some non deadly spicy food for you.”

Jon immediately perks up, and Martin smiles.


	4. Chapter 4

Martins laptop closes gently on his hands, and he looks up to see Jon tapping on his paperwork with one of his feet.

Martin laughs and Jon gives him a slightly startled look.

“You- you’re a cat, how do you care more about work than me?”

Jon gives him a dead look.

“You aren’t even on the pay role Jon.”

He meows.

“I’m in the middle of looking up teas for you.”

Jon does actually pause a second to think on this one, but still ends up tapping the paper again this his paw.

Martin rolls his eyes but concedes.

“Yeah yeah, okay, I’ll do it. Capitalist cat.”

Jon yowls at this, clearly offended.

“Catitalist?” Tim chimes in and Jon yowls again.

“Guys don’t be mean, he’s clearly a comrade right Jon?” Sasha asks.

He leaves Martins desk and makes himself a spot on Sasha’s.

“That’s right, I’m the favorite now guys. Don’t worry Jon, I’d never call you a capitalist.”

Jon blinks slowly at her, and she considers it a win for the rest of the day.

—————————

Jon has realized that for the foreseeable future, alone time will not be something he will have much of, so he stalks of into the Archives to take advantage of what he can.

He is in the middle of reading when he hears the voice.

“Well hello darling, aren’t you fascinating.”

Jon tenses, and looks up. There is a tall- no, not tall.... long. The man is long like he was stretched out somehow. There’s rivulets of blond hair surrounding him and his smile seems... to big. Like it shouldn’t fit on his face the way it does.

Jon does not respond, because in all honesty this person freaks him out a bit, and it’s not like he’d hear more than meowing anyway right?

“You know,” says the man, leaning in uncomfortably close to Jon “I think this rather makes you cuter, trying to deny the affection you want.”

“I- I’m sorry?”

“Though I am rather disappointed you ruined the game so soon. And it was such fun seeing you struggle to communicate.”

“You- can you understand me?”

The man hmmms in confirmation and buries a hand in his hair.

“Yes. It adds to the enjoyment. This is quiet fun, don’t you agree kitty?”

“No, I-“

He stops talking and yelps when he’s picked up in a way that is viscerally WRONG. The mans hand is at the nape of his neck, and it feels both like he dug it in and grabbed his spinal cord AND like someone had pulled him up by a shirt collar made of meat.

It is incredibly unsettling, and he can’t remember what happens over the next few hours because it is very disorienting, but he knows that being picked up by the scruff of his neck is the least of it.

————————-

When the man finally lets Jon out of his corridors and hands, Jon immediately goes for the nearest person and weaves between their legs, desperate for some kind of comfort.

It isn’t right. It’s like his vision is double layered, one that lets him see Tim normally and another that stretches him up, many feet above Jon’s head and he doesn’t know which Tim to look at and his head HURTS.

“Jon? Where’ve you been all day?”

Jon does not answer and pulls at Tim’s arm (leg? He can’t tell).

Tim gives him a concerned look.

“What’s wrong? You’re never this needy are you okay?”

“Tim PLEASE.”

He grits his teeth and winces. His voice has echo on top of it, a yowl.

He hates this so so much.

Tim finally picks him up and Jon buries his head and hands into Tims shirt.

Like this, he doesn’t have to see anything. There is no after image, nothing that echos or blurs on top of anything else. The world isn’t right, but it isn’t his problem now.

Jon hears Tim say something to him, feels him move back to the assistants office and talk worriedly to the others, but he can’t bring himself to care. He is warm here, and protected, and he knows and trusts these people.

He falls asleep.

————————

When Jon wakes up again, he’s on Tims couch, and Tim has apparently gone to bed for the night.

Jon is still rather tired himself, and he weighs his options.

This couch is a lot sturdier than Martins, and the flat warmer. He can afford to sleep out here and spare his dignity.

But he is to tired for dignity, to scared of the doors here, and he goes to Tims room, and manages to wriggle between his arms, and fall back asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Jon wakes up warm and comfortable, curled up against Tim.

Tim on the other hand, is stiff as a board.

“Jon? Are you awake?”

“Yeah, I’m up.”

And oh thank goodness the ringing echo is gone, he sounds normal again.

“You’re in my bed.”

“Yes. Is that- I’m sorry I should’ve checked first is this okay?”

“Sorry, thought I left you on the couch last night I didn’t mean-“

Oh. He’d forgotten no one could understand him. Again.

Well, he was assuming Tim was uncomfortable with the idea of putting Jon into a weird position and not that he disliked it himself. If he’s wrong there’s not much he can do to fix it outside of avoiding it in the future.

Might as well try to put him at ease about one of those.

Jon looks up at Tim, and buries himself further into his chest.

“I- oh you. You wanted to be here. Alright, I’m not complaining.”

Tim finally relaxes and buries a hand in Jon’s hair, petting him.

He’s kind of loath to admit it but it’s- nice, after yesterday.

He sighs contently and lets himself relax into it, and Tim laughs at something.

“What is it?”

“Did you notice you’re purring?”

Jon jerks away and stubbornly goes quiet.

“It’s not a complaint, it’s just nice to see you relax a bit. And I’m not gonna lie it’s kind of cute.”

Jon stares at him for a moment, before slowly working his way back into the cuddle.

They stay like that until Tims alarm goes off for work, and he has to shake Jon back awake.

———————————-

Everyone seems to be more settled with the idea of Jon now.

When him and Tim arrive, Martin is already there much to Jon’s surprise. He knows how much he likes to sleep in.

“Hey Jon, I uh- I know you had a tough time yesterday with- well I don’t know what, couldn’t really ask, but I thought you could use something after that? So I thought I’d come in early and- and make you some tea since you were so upset earlier about not being able to drink it now. I found some cat safe opinions so it’s up to you but- yeah.”

And this is very good news that makes Jon ecstatic at the prospect of being able to drink TEA again and eat SEASONED FOOD probably, but it does make him wonder. He remembers eating and drinking this stuff because he falsely remembers being human, so how DOES he know what it tastes like? Were his last (heaven forbid he think of the term) owners careless enough to let him primarily eat things like curry?

That’s not a path he’d like to go down mentally right now considering the overlap he suffered from yesterday, so he puts the thought away to choose between the tea options.

He doesn’t quite know how to ask what kind they are, and settles on smelling them. There’s a few kinds, including peppermint, chamomile, ginger, a few lemony smelling ones and some more he doesn’t recognize.

He grabs the one that smells best (it’s one of the ones he doesn’t recognize, but he hasn’t smelled a lot of his tea before so that’s no surprise) and holds it out toward Martin.

“Thank you for doing this for me Martin. I think I’d prefer this one, though if I change my mind I can’t be held accountable because you didn’t tell me what any of them were.”

Jon can tell Tim and Martin are trying very hard to not coo and/or laugh at him and he tilts his head in confusion.

“What? What am I doing?”

At this both Tim and Martin loose the battle at restraining themselves, Tim laughing and Martin letting out an “awwwwww baby....” and Jon huffs at this a bit and turns to go.

“I refuse to be insulted like this, I am NOT ‘baby.’”

Martin looks a bit crestfallen at this and Tim is still laughing, now assumedly at Martin who is trying to explain himself to Jon.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say that, you were just standing on your hind legs and holding the bag in your little paws and then you did that head tilt-“

“Martin, I really don’t think listing off cute attributes is helping your case here.”

Martin blushes.

“I- well that is-“

Jon sighs.

“I hate both of you. I’m going to lay down for a bit, get me when the teas ready.”


	6. Chapter 6

Jon was becoming INCREDIBLY bored just sitting in this stupid chair all day, but he did not want to deal with everyone trying not to coo over him right now.

Sasha sends Tim and Martin a look and he groans.

“What now? I’m relatively certain I didn’t do anything ‘cute’ again, so you have to have some.... plan or other.”

“You bored?”

“Yes, but Sasha, if you break out a cat toy I might have to kill you.” He says sardonically.

“After er- everything.... that’s been going on, we thought it might be a good idea to get you something to entertain yourself.”

“Well,” Martin says “it was Sasha’s idea really.”

“You guys chipped in though, it was nothing special.”

“Alright Miss humble, no need to be so modest” Tim teases.

“If you all chipped in I’m assuming it’s not a cat toy then?”

Sasha shoves at Tim a bit.

“Look, you’re making him have to wait!”

“Fine, I’ll lay off for now.”

She gives a nod at that, ignoring Tim’s eyeroll and pulls out the gift.

“It’s an mp3, made sure the buttons were big enough for your paws as long as you’re careful. I mean obviously you’ll have to tell one of us if you want something put on it but the rest of the time some music or podcasts would be good yeah?”

“Sasha. Sasha I owe you my life. And Tim and Martin too I guess but you thought to get me my own  entertainment  Christ I’ve been bored .”

“Does that- does that mean you like it?”

Jon rolls his eyes in annoyance of not being understood and hugs her, and she lets out a laugh and buries a hand in his hair.

He’ll allow it, for now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that I am not a vet so can not verify the validity of cat food claims. I found my information here: https://www.felineliving.net/homemade-cat-food-recipes/#Chicken_and_Tuna_Dinner  
> Largely and from vague googling but again I have not tried this myself please be careful with your fur babies

The second they get in the front door, Jon starts pushing at Martin to let him down 

“Alright, alright, calm down. What’re you so antsy about?”

Jon just meows very unimpressed at him.

“Right, sorry. Being carried by itself is bad enough, I guess you don’t need a reason. You ready for dinner?”

He trills excited up at Martin and Ok, this is INCREDIBLY unfair he’s not allowed to remark on how cute he is or give him kisses or ANYTHING he’s adorable. 

He freezes for a moment when he realizes why Jon seems so much more excited for this dinner than other ones.

“I um- don’t get your hopes up to high I- Tim said that you really liked spicy food? Which makes no sense because cats aren’t suppose to be able to taste spicy apparently but that doesn’t- you’d know better than me I guess. The problem is about everything I found said it could kill you, and none of the sources were consist when I did find safe foods because some of them said it’s always fine and others said no spices ever so um-“

Jon sags onto the floor looking miserable and yowls at him.

“No, no don’t- I’m sorry it’s not my fault that- look will you stop for a second please? I know it’s not great but I thought we could find a middle ground between tasteless and you know, killing you. I was thinking maybe once a week if that’s alright? That way it won’t be large quantities and you can tell us if you feel bad. Even ice cream might be fine every once and awhile, although sugars not great for you and I’m pretty sure cats are lactose intolerant? So it would have to be very small amounts. Did you- did you want the um. The seasoned dinner tonight or later?”

This does not seem to cheer Jon up much so Martin kneels down by him and reaches out a hand.

“I’m going to touch you now if that’s ok.”

Jon doesn’t make any complaint so he reaches out and very gently runs his hand through his fur.

“I’m sorry. About all of this. I know it must be hard adjusting to everything, you remember being able to have all these things that you haven’t and can’t have and it’s unfair, but you’ll be alright, I promise. And hey, at least like this you don’t have to pay any bills right? I’d kill for that.”

Jon lets out a tired mew and puts a paw on Martins hand, causing him to give Jon a sad little smile.

“Yeah. Tell you what, I’ll make a dinner we can both eat together, I found a lot of those I’m thinking trout and broccoli, and then we listen to some podcasts on the couch to see if any catch your interest enough to do download for later, sound good? And you can choose what we watch tonight.”

Martin takes the next meow as a success.

———-

Jon is aware he’s worried Martin by his attitude. He’s picking at his food, not really talking back much, and is just letting Martin manhandle him however he pleases with no complaint.

He feels like an idiot, making such a big deal over seasoned food but-

But it’s not just seasoned food. It’s the fact that he doesn’t have a say in it. Maybe he should appreciate not having responsibilities, appreciate that people care about him enough to look up what’s good for him or not.

But it means that even if his memories are wrong and he’s never had any of the things he thought he did, that he can never have them again. No pots of curry or carousels, no flat that’s just his or late nights stalking the aisles of some store just because he couldn’t sleep, no painting his nails. 

No midnight talks. Probably no talks ever again, because no one can understand him.

His thoughts are interrupted by two hands scooping him up and he yelps in surprise.

“Martin! Don’t just pick me up like that, I can walk for gods sake!”

Martin of course does not respond to this and just beems at him bright as the sun before getting up and heading to the living room.

“Alright, enough of that, let’s put away the pouty face.”

“I’m not POUTING and if I was I think I have more than enough reason to do so.”

Martin puts him down on the other side of the couch and Jon really respects that he’s giving him a chance to have his own space. He doesn’t want it right now, as he shows by curling up against Martin, but having the option is good.

“Oh! I um- you sure? You don’t have to.”

“Yes Martin, I can make my own decisions.”

“Ok then,” Martin hesitatingly puts a hand on Jon’s head “is this ok?”

Knowing he won’t be understood anyway, Jon just closes his eyes against the pressure. It’s nice, and he likes how warm it is.

“Alright then. Podcast time. Have you ever heard the bright sessions? It’s about superheroes who go to therapy. I know how that sounds, but I promise it’s not as goofy or marvel-ish as it seems, and even though the advice is for something different it’s helpful sometimes.”

“I really don’t care what we listen to Martin, as long as you’re willing to shut it off when asked”

Jon ends up riveted by it, and they fall asleep ten episodes in.


End file.
